The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece which selectively functions in both a stepwise hand-carrying mode and a continuous hand-carrying mode.
The conventional electronic timepieces have heretofore been designed to operate either in a stepwise hand-carrying manner or in a continuous hand-carrying manner. Therefore, the user must choose either the stepwise hand-carrying model or the continuous hand-carrying model when purchasing a timepiece. Further, in case the user who had purchased the stepwise hand-carrying model later wishes that he had bought the continuous hand-carrying model, he could do nothing but to also buy the other model. Moreover, even when the user wishes to buy a timepiece of a design which he likes and which operates in the continuous hand-carrying manner, the particular model which he likes often may not be available. That is, the model before him may be of a design which he likes but which operates in the stepwise hand-carrying manner. In such a case, he must forego the purchase of a timepiece or reluctantly buy one which is not his first preference.